The national hotline for rape crises has seen a rise in calls by over twenty-five percent in a two-year period, with the highest number of calls ever received within the last year, according to recent data. The round-the-clock service provided by The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has reported growing levels of mental struggles and ideas of suicide from the callers. The annual report for 2023, which came out last Thursday, stated that the hotline had connected with 18,605 individuals in the last year, an increase from the preceding years with 18,400 and 14,012 contacts respectively. Over 10,000 of the calls received in the past year were from individuals reaching out for the first time.
The report highlights that the majority of callers (39.8 per cent) sought support for rapes that took place in adulthood whilst the second-largest reason (33.6 per cent) was for discussing childhood sexual abuse, followed by adult sexual assault (16.7 per cent). The report observed a growing trend over time of callers describing additional violent behaviours from the offenders. This sort of violence, often physical, psychological or both, can inflict profound trauma on victims, the report suggested.
The hotline operators, staff and volunteers, found an increase in callers reporting about mental health issues, expressing their feelings of loneliness. Almost 500 calls were received from individuals contemplating suicide, as per the report. Moreover, concern about the risk of becoming homeless was also an increasing issue amongst callers.
Age-wise, more than a third (38.2 per cent) of callers comprised of individuals under 30, whereas 19 per cent were in their 30s and a further 18.5 per cent were aged between 40 to 49. Women made up an overwhelming portion of those calling in – at 71.3 per cent whilst 17.5 per cent were men and 11.2 per cent self-identified as belonging to another gender.
In the wake of the pandemic, the online chat service from The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has observed consistent growth.
In 2023, we aided a record number of individuals, hosting a total of 805 webchats compared to the 607 we facilitated in 2022. The platform is particularly useful for those who favour text-based communication over voice calls or for whom confidentiality concerns make telephonic discussions challenging,” the organisation stated. “These discussions can last various durations, often involving numerous subject matters. In April, we expanded our webchat availability to include two overnight sessions a week.”
The webchat service is operational Monday to Friday between the hours of 10am and 5pm, with additional periods of availability from midnight to 3am on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In times of emergency or immediate threat, the national 24-hour rape crisis hotline can be contacted at 1800 77 8888, or reach out to 112 via call or message.